


Claiming Rituals

by Candy_A



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Series: New Beginnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 04:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/794031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candy_A/pseuds/Candy_A
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim and Blair attend their first social occasion since the start of their new relationship.<br/>This story is a sequel to Shared Dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Claiming Rituals

## Claiming Rituals

by Candy Apple

Author's disclaimer: UPN and Pet Fly own the guys and The Sentinel. No money being made.

* * *

Claiming Ritual  
by Candy Apple 

"You still feeling all right, Chief?" Jim returned to the table with a beer for himself and a tall glass of ice water for Blair. 

"Oh, man, come on. The doctor never said I couldn't drink." 

"You've had champagne and a beer. You're not 100% yet. Getting drunk isn't going to make you feel better." Jim settled in at the table and watched the other party guests dancing. The banquet room of the Hillside Inn, one of Cascade's favorite hotels, had been set up with several small tables along the perimeter, leaving a good area open in the middle for dancing. 

Rafe, the guest of honor at this birthday bash, was showing off his moves to Megan, who seemed to be a more than worthy dance partner. Several other detectives from Major Crimes, as well as several of Rafe's friends and family members, also crowded the dance floor, occupied the tables and milled around, grazing from the buffet table. 

"So who actually planned this?" Blair asked, resigned to his ice water as Jim opened his beer. 

"I think throwing him a party was Connor's idea. Brown was her accomplice." 

"Megan?" Blair watched the couple on the dance floor. "Isn't that interesting?" he commented, grinning and taking another sip of his water. 

"Okay, Chief, just say it." 

"What?" Blair feigned innocence. "Okay, so I think Megan's interested. Why else would she suggest a party like this?" 

"I planned a party for you last year." 

"Yeah, and look at us now." Blair grinned and flexed his eyebrows. His smile faded a little. "Simon's not happy about us at all. You know that, right?" 

"Simon knows we've got an uphill road ahead of us. I think he's worried. And he thinks I'm riding some kind of emotional tide from your close call that's fucking up my judgement." 

"That's what he said?" Blair looked troubled. "Maybe he's right." 

"Don't ever say that, sweetheart. He couldn't be more wrong." 

"But you didn't feel this way before it happened. Hell, you wanted me _out of your life_ before it happened." 

"I explained that. I never wanted you _gone_. I didn't know what I wanted. Almost losing you just pointed it out to me. It didn't make me want something I didn't want all along. I just needed a wake up call." "This is how it's always gonna be for you." Blair glanced around the room as most of the other couples migrated to the dance floor to slow dance. "Sitting by yourself at a table in the corner with me." Blair sighed heavily. "If you wanna dance with somebody, it's okay. No reason for you not to have any fun at all tonight. I don't mind." 

"You're right." Jim stood up, and Blair's face fell immediately. He hadn't expected Jim to take him up on the offer, and the thought of his tall, handsome partner slow-dancing body to body with some woman twisted his chest into a knot that was worse than anything caused by the nerve gas. Jim had disappeared into the crowd, just like that. 

Blair scanned the room for him, miserable not to find him and yet dreading more _finding_ him, and seeing how good he looked paired up with some curvy female draped all over him. Finally, he caught sight of the other man, talking to the DJ who had been providing the dance music. The two men spoke a few words, laughed a little, and the man behind the controls seemed to be searching his repertoire for something specific. He showed something to Jim that got a negative response, and then finally, he came up with something that brought a smile to Ellison's face. Jim nodded and then started making his way through the crowd again. 

//Great. He probably wanted to hear Santana doing "Black Magic Woman" or something,// Blair thought dismally, gulping a little more water and waiting for the change in music--and Jim's selection of a partner. He was nothing short of stunned that Jim was making his way back to the table, and when the song that was playing faded, Jim reached out a hand toward Blair. 

"This one's for us, sweetheart." 

Blair accepted the hand a little hesitantly, and was slightly relieved that the other guests were involved enough in their dancing and chattering that they didn't really pay any attention to another couple joining the dancers. 

"You mind if I lead?" Jim asked, smiling down at his partner. 

"I think I'd follow you anywhere right about now," Blair said honestly, his breath catching in his throat as he moved into Jim's arms. They were chest to chest, arms in all the proper dance positions. The hands that were joined soon moved inward until Jim held Blair's hand and arm close to his chest. When Blair finally tuned in to what song was playing, he pulled even closer to Jim, both thrilled at the gesture and a little afraid at the same time of what Jim was doing to himself by claiming his lover publicly. 

The first strains of "Endless Love" put the slow dancers in motion again, a few nearby couples beginning to notice the new additions to the dance floor. 

//My love,  
There's only you in my life,  
The only thing that's right... 

My first love,  
You're every breath that I take,  
You're every step I make...// 

Jim pressed a light kiss against Blair's forehead, his hand moving slightly up and down the smaller man's back. The look he bestowed on Blair's slightly bewildered face was one of pure love, and the small smile that graced the strong features communicated very clearly to Blair that Jim was in their little world in the middle of all those people. Blair alone had the undivided attention of this man who could have just about any one of the eligible women in the room. 

//And I want to share all my love with you, No one else will do...// 

Simon was right about uphill roads in the future, but now, Blair couldn't bring himself to look beyond the perfection of this moment. He knew Jim wouldn't last well sneaking around, and Jim hadn't made any stuttering excuses to Simon. He had stood by Blair and his decision to love him with his second best friend and captain, so Blair hated himself for doubting that Jim would do it in front of the rest of his friends and colleagues. The words of the song seemed so right for what they faced, and for what they shared. 

//My love,  
I'll be a fool for you, I'm sure.  
You know I don't mind,  
'Cause you, you mean the world to me,  
I know I've found in you  
My endless love...// 

Blair's hand splayed on Jim's back, pressing them closer together as he let his head rest on a strong shoulder. For all the bantering they'd probably do about who was going to lead when they went dancing, Blair savored this feeling of being held and cherished. 

//And yes, you'll be the only one,  
'Cause no one can deny,  
This love I have inside,  
And I'll give it all to you,  
My love, My endless love...// 

As the song faded and another one started, a little peppier dance tune this time, Jim led his partner back to their table with an arm around Blair's shoulders. 

"Jim...I don't know what to say..." Blair dropped into his chair. 

"I thought it was your idea to dance," Jim replied, smiling at his own teasing comment. 

"I mean, we're _out_ now. Doesn't that bother you?" 

"No, frankly, I find it damned liberating." Jim reached over, and with a hand on the back of Blair's head, pulled him in for a long kiss. "God, I've wanted to do that for the last hour." 

"Just the last _hour_? We've been here three," Blair retorted, grinning. "You wound me." 

"Let's say it's become an obsession in the last hour." 

"Good answer," Blair responded, laughing a little. 

"I was wondering when you two were planning to let the rest of the world in on your good news," Megan commented as she pulled up a chair to join them. 

"You knew?" Jim asked, obviously stunned. 

"Oh, please." She smiled as she looked from one to the other. "Did you seriously think I've spent all this time as a detective and missed your signals?" 

"Signals?" Jim asked, his expression blank. 

"I suspect you've been a couple for quite a while. It just took the two of you this long to figure it out." 

"Guess Ellison isn't the hot shot detective around here after all," Rafe teased good-naturedly as he joined the group. "We had that figured out sometime last year." 

"Last year?" Blair was recovering from choking on his ice water at Rafe's statement. 

"The fact that you were Jim's 'date' for every special occasion was kind of a tip-off," Rafe responded, smiling. 

"So you're okay with this?" Blair asked. 

"Sure. It's probably wishful thinking to assume everybody's going to be okay with it, but I haven't heard any negative rumblings on the dance floor, and as far as most of the gang in Major Crimes, I haven't really heard too much negative stuff about you guys." 

"We hadn't exactly slow danced in public before tonight." Blair took another drink of water, purely to calm his nerves. He was surprised when Jim took a hold of the hand Blair had resting on the table and squeezed it. "Will you relax, Chief? It'll all work out." 

"There are always going to be people with tiny minds and narrow attitudes," Megan spoke up. "But you know, it's a bit futile trying to live one's life to please them, because pleasing them is impossible. They'll always find something about you or your work or your lifestyle that isn't satisfactory and wag their tongues about it." Megan smiled a little evilly. "So my motto has always been, give them something worthwhile to talk about while they're at it." 

"We appreciate the words of encouragement," Jim added, smiling a little, then turned to his partner and assessed him. "I think we're going to call it a night. Sandburg here still needs his beauty sleep. Badly," Jim added, grinning as Blair snatched his hand away. 

"If that's how you talk to your lovers, man, I think I'll go back to being your ride-a-long," he teased, laughing. 

"Not a chance," Jim recaptured the escaped hand and kissed the back of it. 

"Awwww," Megan and Rafe said dramatically, in unison. That was enough to break all four people up into laughter. 

The End...until next time! :-) 


End file.
